Re: DSHEA Is Supported by Congress and the American People
- From: "Robert" <sabu77@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 19:43:54 -0700
"PeterB" <pkm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1148308867.159336.68250@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From the Congressional record:
DSHEA is NOT supported by most people who understand it. Because of lack of
teeth in DSHEA, a massive fake supplement industry is operating thousands of
scams for untested products.
(1) Over 158,000,000 Americans regularly consume dietary supplements to
maintain and improve their health.
(2) Consumer expenditures on dietary supplements reached a reported
$17,100,000,000 in 2000, double the amount spent in 1994.
(3) According to a recent report issued by the Food and Drug
Administration (in this Act referred to as the `FDA') the use of
dietary supplements is likely to grow due to factors such as the aging
of the baby boom generation, increased interest in self-sufficiency,
and advances in science that are uncovering new relationships between
diet and disease.
Also many new scams.
(4) In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
(Public Law 103-417) (in this Act referred to as `DSHEA') was enacted.
This Act balanced continued consumer access to vitamins, minerals, and
other dietary supplements, increased scientific research on the
benefits and risks of dietary supplements, public education on dietary
supplements, and needed consumer protections.
(5) DSHEA requires that claims made on dietary supplement labels,
packaging, and accompanying material be truthful, non-misleading, and
substantiated. Manufacturers are prohibited from making claims that
products are intended to diagnose, treat, mitigate, cure, or prevent a
disease.
This is not enforced due to the supplement lobby.
(6) DSHEA provides for good manufacturing practice standards setting
requirements for potency, purity, sanitary conditions, and
recordkeeping for dietary supplements.
(7) DSHEA requires that manufacturers submit adequate information as to
the safety of any new ingredients contained in dietary supplements
before those products can be sold.
This is not enforced due to the supplement lobby.
(8) The FDA has updated and expanded its system for the reporting,
collection, and analysis of dietary supplement adverse events reports.
[Comment: Yet only two bans of nutritional products have occurred in
history, and one of those was overturned in a US court. Why? Because
dietary supplements are extremely safe, especially when compared to
drugs.]
Only two because of the supplement lobby.
(9) DSHEA provides the FDA with a number of authoritites to remove
unsafe dietary supplements from the marketplace. [Comment: Contrary
to what many of our resident pharma bloggers would have you believe.]
Not likely because of the supplement lobby.
(10) DSHEA created the Office of Dietary Supplements within the
National Institutes of Health to expand research and consumer
information about the health effects of dietary supplements.
(11) The FDA has not adequately used its authority to enforce DSHEA.
[Comment: Citing lack of funds as the reason. At the same time,
pharma-friendly advocates call for new forms of regulation that aren't
necessary.]
Like making sure that dietary supplements are effective and safe?
(12) The FDA needs adequate resources to appropriately implement and
enforce DSHEA. Congress has appropriated additional funds over the last
several years beyond those requested in the President's budget to
implement and enforce DSHEA, reaching $9,700,000 in fiscal year 2003.
[Comment: We're talking about nine million dollars here. A few
hammers and a bag of nails at taxpayer prices should take care of
that.]
(13) However, according to the FDA, full implementation of DSHEA would
require substantial additional resources. The FDA asserts that between
$24,000,000 and $65,000,000 per year will be needed to fully implement
DSHEA. [Still just a fraction of its pharma-funded budget.]
ref: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.1538.IS:
To protect DSHEA and ensure free market access to effective nutritional
products worldwide, visit the Alliance for Natural Health, at
http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/.
.
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